Introduction
Ecommerce in lay-man terms is a phrase which contains two words; E which stands for Electronic and commerce which means to trade. E-commerce literally means electronic trading which is the trading of goods and services on the World Wide Web. The phrase web E commerce hosting is a phrase used in describing a website host that provides a suitable platform used to host an Electronic commerce website for users accessibility.
History
Web Ecommerce hosting has a different set of features from the standard form of web hosting due to its involvement in trading which requires the buying and selling of goods coupled with an exchange of money for services rendered. Therefore, web Ecommerce hosting brings into play features like extensive database support for keeping an inventory of the list of available goods, a shopping cart software that allow clients catalog the types of goods they want and also saving such a list for easy recall, a well-defined security plan or initiative to guide both the clients’ money as well as his or her personal details from internet fraud and identity theft. Basically, web Ecommerce hosting, is hosting a business website or an electronic market, with the needed ease and security provided for clients who want to trade online. It helps to run an online business through internet.
Features
I shall list the basic and common feature web Ecommerce hosting companies provide for its clients for the safe and easy running of their web sites:
(1) Virtual carts: these are shopping carts provided by web Ecommerce hosting servers to provide clients with a virtual location to keep the goods he/she picks up while going through the available goods on display, it is similar to the physical cart carried around by customers in a shopping center due to the fact that clients are not charged for the use of them.
Tips and comments
(2) Secure Socket Layer Certificates: this is a protocol designed to transmit sensitive private documents as well as information via the internet, it uses a cryptographic system that uses two keys (a private key known to only the recipient of a message and a public key known to the public) to encrypt messages sent along the web Ecommerce hosting servers. The general method used in identifying if your web Ecommerce host is using the SSL certificate protocol is to check if the URL of such start displays the “https” acronym or symbol.
(3) Storefronts: these are services provided by web Ecommerce hosting services that allows clients view the catalog or inventory of goods available to be bought, they are usually designed to be flashy so potential customers can easily be attracted.
(4) Payment Gateway or processor: Is a web Ecommerce hosting service that allows or authorizes the use of credit card payment.
(5) Search Engine Optimization tools: this is a web Ecommerce hosting tool that is used for improving the visibility of a website or page which is been looked for through the use of keywords such as “web Ecommerce hosting” in search engines by consumers via the internet.